You Oughta Know: An FMA Fan Fiction
by LunarLotus123
Summary: ...
1. Chapter 1

"Dad! Wake up! Your gonna be late again!"

A dark haired girl stood over the Lt. colonel, looking rather pissed.

"Rache? Uh...what time is it?" Roy asked sitting up.

"It's almost 10 am!" Rachel snapped smacking her father upside the head.

Roy cried out in pain, then got out of bed, "Geez...your mother never woke me up this roughly."

"Well, mom never worried about you getting fired," she snapped throwing his uniform at him, "Hughes is waiting outside..."

After she left, Roy groaned, "Why couldn't she be more like her mother?"

* * *

Rachel was downstairs, trying to hurry and get herself together after fighting to get her father awake, "Dammit...I'm going to kill that man!"

Rachel wasn't your normal state alchemist per say, she had a secret no one knew about. Her title was the Puppet String Alchemist for her alchemy which granted her a puppet like control over people. But that was just the beginning...

"RACHEL!" Rachel cried out and collapsed as she was tackled from behind.

"Emily...get off...PLEASE..." Rachel muttered shoving her friend off, "Can't you just knock?"

"But where's the fun in that?" Emily asked smirking as she helped her friend up.

"Fun or no fun...that automail f yours will be the death of me."

Emily had all for limbs made of automail, an accident occurred when she was a child and she lost her limbs.

"Your no fun anymore. Ever since you became a state alchemist you went all serious on me," the blond girl snapped angrily.

""Sorry...I've just had alot on my mind lately..." Rachel muttered as she began looking through her file.

"Is it that McDougal guy?"

"Yeah...we still can't find him. Dammit all!"

It was then that Rachel caught a glimpse of the clock, "Holy shit I'm late!" She grabbed her coat, Emily and the file and ran to the car before speeding towards HQ.

Rachel and Emily had been good friends since the passed the alchemy exam together the previous year.

Roy yawned and crawled out of bed and finally got dressed.

By the time he got outside he realized Rachel had already gone, "Your kidding me..."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED!


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel jumped out of the car, her files stacked in one arm and her military uniform in the other.

"Geez Rach! Calm down," Emily snapped getting out of the car, "You'll give yourself another heart attack."

"Very funny," the dark haired girl replied sarcastically as she nudged the door open with her elbow.

Just as the door opened, Hughes burst out the door, sending Rachel head over heels down the stairs.

Emily fell over laughing as her friend hit the ground hard, "HAHAHA!"

Hughes looked at Rachel, then Emily, then Rachel, "What happened to you?"

Rachel glared up at the elder man and growled, "Shut your damned face..."

Once Emily managed to breath again, she helped Rachel gather her papers, "Don't be too mad..."

"Wow Rachel...Just cause your a klutz doesn't mean you can blame others," Hughes muttered as he leaned against the stair rails.

"Just...shut it," the Mustang kid snapped standing up and hurrying inside.

Inside Roy's office, Riza, Havoc, Fuhrey, Breda and Fahlman where already working on their paperwork for the day when the flustered Rachel walked in.

"Geez...ya look like ya got hit by a bus," Breda commented as she staggered over and fell over her desk.

"Shut...up...Hughes gave me enough trouble as is," Rachel muttered after sitting up.

"He's showing off the new picture of Gracia," Riza explained not looking up from her papers, "You got off easy."

"ANOTHER one! How many does that make now!" Rachel cried out sounding genuinely surprised.

"I counted 666," Havoc muttered lighting his cigarette and tossing the lighter to Rachel.

She caught it and lit her own smoke as she looked through her papers, "Isn't that the number of the devil or what ever?"

"It sure fits," Breda said quickly without a pause.

"Dammit!" A familiar frustrated cry echoed through the halls.

"Roy's here," Fuhrey replied quietly as he tried to repair the broken radio on his desk.

"I can't stand Hughes! He keeps flashing those god damn pictures in my face!" the colonel barked slamming the door behind him.

Ignoring him, the group went back to their work.

* * *

To be continued!


	3. Chapter 3

Roy was sitting at his desk just staring out the window, thinking...sorta.

While everyone else did HIS paperwork, Emily came in with Ed and Al, "Yo! Roy! Sup man!"

Everyone just stared at the spaztic blond girl.

Roy tried to ignore her but turned to see Ed looking pissed, "What's wrong FullMetal?"

"Why did I get a folder of YOUR paperwork this morning damned bastard!"

Wanting to avoid the fire fight, Rachel sighed, "It's geting late. I'm gonna call it a night.

"Want me to walk ya home? McDougal is still out there," Havoc said standing up.

Rachel kept from turning around, her cheeks a bright red, "No! I'm fine! Thanks bye!"

Everyone simply stared then went back to work.

* * *

"Damn dad...always making US do his work," Rachel muttered as she walked down the stairs of HQ.

As she did, a strange rustling noise caught ehr attention, "Whos' there!"

She slowly wlaked over to the bushes, a piece of chalk in her hand, "I'm warning you! I know alchemy dammit!"

Before Rachel could react, a blond figure jumped out and tackle hugged her, "Hey Rach!"

Rachel fell back, hitting her head on the ground, "Owww...EMILY! Would it kill ya to say hi normally!"

"What's the fun in that?" Emily asked as she stood up, "Besides, Roy told me to go with you."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Rachel muttered angrily before starting him with Emily.

As they got closer, Rachel heard someone behind them.

Emily simply nodded, acknowledging her suspicions and they both split up, running down separate alleys.

The figure followed Rachel, picking up the pace once she started running.

It paused though when it came to a dead end.

Rachel smirked and jumped down from the roof, landing right behind it, "Finally found you...McDougal!"

The outlaw alchemist turned and smirked, "Guess ya caught me Mustang..."

* * *

To be continued!


	4. Chapter 4

Rachel sighed as she stretched her arm a bit, "So...why don't we make this easy and you just hand yourself over. Hm?"

"Hand myself over to scum like you? I don't think so!" McDougal barked transmuting the puddles around him into a giant cloud of steam.

Crying out in surprise, Rachel shielded her face and whipped her gun out.

Unfortunately, McDougal had already reached her and was about to stab her, "Die you corrupt bitch!"

There was a stunned moment as the two clashed, Rachel's gun holding the sword an inch from her face, "You got some moves old man..."

Before he could react, McDougal found himself on the ground, the young alchemists heel in his throat.

"You had your time gramps. Just come quietly," Rachel muttered putting more pressure on McDougal's neck.

"No...way...Mustang," he gasped before freezing her left leg and smashing it to pieces.

Rachel fell to the ground as he ran, but she didn't seem worried.

In only a moment, her leg had grown back, good as new, "Damn...never gets easier."

"You're lucky no one saw that," Emily called out walking over, her usual cheery face now quite solemn.

"It's not my fault he's a bastard," Rachel muttered transmuting her pants leg back to normal.

"What if HE found out?"

That sentence caused Rachel to freeze, "You know I don't work for him anymore..."

"He'll be sorry to hear that. Now...let's get McDougal before he ruins everything," Emily replied putting on her cheery smiley face again.

Grudgingly, Rachel ran after her, hoping to stop the rogue alchemist.  


* * *

TO BE CONTINUED!


	5. Chapter 5

"Armstrong!"

The burly man was looking for the Elrics when Rachel ran over, "What is it Mustang?"

"Where's McDougal?" Rachel gasped in between breaths.

"I'm not sure. Ed just ran after him," Armstrong replied looking concerned.

"WHAT! I'M GONNA KILL THAT DAMN SHRIMP WHEN I SEE HIM!" Rachel shriked running after him.

It wasn't hard to find the Elric's, all she had to do was follow the path of destruction and the sounds of chaos.

* * *

"You bastard! Why're you doing this?" Ed snapped glaring at the rogue alchemist.

"The military is corrupt! They're ruining this country," McDougal barked clenching his fists.

"EDWARD!"

Ed turned at the last minute only to find a high heeled boot flying at his face.

Al looked over, "Brother!"

It was too late to stop them.

Rachel had already kicked Ed through the wall, an EXTREMELY pissed off look spread across her face.

"Owww...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" Ed cried out sitting up.

"You know you're not supposed to confront these guys on your own!" Rachel snapped angrily, "Honestly! I don't see how you've lived this damn long you stupid midget!"

"WHO YOU CALLING SO SMALL THEY COULD BE CRUSHED BY A GRAIN OF RICE!" Ed shrieked getting in Rachel's face.

"Wanna test me runt?" Rachel growled glaring death at him.

"Don't push your damned luck brat," Ed snapped returning the glare.

"Ummm...guys?" Al chimed in quietly.

"WHAT!" the two screeched looking over.

Al squeaked and stepped back, "Um...he's getting away..."

Rachel and Ed turned, then cried out in frustration, **"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! MY FAULT! SHUT UP! MAKE ME!"**

After they managed to stop arguing, both teens ran after McDougal.

Al groaned as Emily walked over, "What are we gonna do with those two?"

"Beats me. I say we use duct tape though," Emily replied crossing her arms.

* * *

Ya for psycho alchemists! To be continued...deal with it...what...you wanna pick a fight? I'll sick the midget alchemist on you.


	6. Chapter 6

Rachel had arrived at a barricade the soldiers had set up and immediately looked for her dad.

"Rachel!"

Riza was standing about 15 feet away when she noticed Roy's daughter arrive.

Rachel ran over and glanced around, "Please say dad hasn't-"

"He has."

"How bad?"

"Pretty bad."

As the others listned to the twelve word conversation, they wondered what the two women meant.

As they talked though, Roy had already run off and gotten his gloves wet.

Once Rachel and Riza found him, Havoc was already there with his arms crossed.

"Lemme guess," Riza muttered walking over and standing next to the colonel, "Charged in head first?"

"Sorry dad. You're useless to the fight now," Rachel commented looking at the ice and water, mentally figuring out which way McDougal went, and how far he'd be.

Hearing the term useless though, Roy sank into despair.

"You have to be so harsh Rachel?" Havoc asked lighting a cigarette.

"No, that was me holding back," the teen alchemist replied standing up and turning away, "I'll be back in a minute."

Before Riza could stop her, Rachel had already run off in the direction she suspected he ran.

"I'm….useless…" Roy muttered as he sat on the ground, just dwelling in his despair.

Rachel had reached a damp alleyway when she saw evidence of a alchemic fight that had taken place.

Examining the stone pillars and fists jutting up from the ground and out of the walls she groaned, "Dammit Ed…must you be so destructive…"

She then noticed a white chalk line under one of the pillars.

She glanced around and made sure no one was looking before letting out a sigh.

From her fingers grew 6 inch claws that she used to slice the pillar, allowing her to investigate.

After moving the pieces and hiding her claws once more, Rachel stared at what turned out to be a transmutation circle.

It took her a minute, but she managed to identify it and grew cold, "No way…That means…SHIT!"

Meanwhile, Emily and Al tracked Ed down and found him in a fierce fight with McDougal.

Seeing as how Ed was getting his face beaten, Al jumped in while Emily just stood and shook her head, "Boys…too bad we need em…"

Rachel had been running to find anyone, hoping to stop McDougal before he activated the circle she had found.

It took about 10 minutes, but Rachel showed up just as Ed and Al took McDougal down and had him arrested.

"What took ya so long Mustang?" Ed asked smirking over at the worn out teen.

"We…have a…huge problem guys…"

Before she could explain, the two guards dragging McDougal away were knocked out and the rouge escaping in a cloud of steam.

"What the hell!" Ed and Emily proclaimed in unison.

"I was trying to tell you! He turned Central into one big transmutation circle! He's going to freeze the city over!" Rachel snapped angrily.

"You're kidding…We got no time to waste then," Emily said becoming dead serious, a strange murderous aura coming over her.

"Now we're talkiing," Rachel said patting her friend on the shoulder, "Whall we?"

"Do let's."

With that, the two alchemist ran off to find the murderer.

* * *

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

"You think HE knows?" Emily asked after they had stopped running.

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't care?"

"Heard from Greed lately?"

Rachel paused in midstep, thinking on her ex-boyfriend, "You know me. I don't like being treated as a possesion…we just didn't work very well…"

Before Emily could retort, there was a loud rumbling, causing the two girls to spin around.

Low and behold, McDougal was ridding a giant wave of ice towards Central Command.

The girls both groaned and let out a simultaneous, "You gotta be kidding me."

* * *

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

"Sir…you may want to take it easy," Riza said as Roy grabbed another pair of gloves from the briefcase she was holding.

Roy was obviously a man on a mission.

He walked towards the ice covering Central and shot off a HUGE fireball at it, "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY FLAMES NOW BITCH!"

It didn't take long for Rachel and Emily to find the Elric Brothers.

As usual, they were rushing in head first without any plan.

"Damn, they'll screw it up!" Rachel snapped grabbing onto a chunk of ice and leaping on top of the glacier.

"It's what they do best though!" Emily replied jumping up as well.

As they landed, the two noticed Ed and Al already engaging in combat with McDougal.

"IDIOTS!" Rachel snapped as she ran over and yanked the fallen Ed away from one of the fugitives attacks, "Watch out next time shrimp. I won't be there to save you all the time!"

"WHO SAYS I NEED YOU TO SAVE ME DAMMIT!" Ed barked yanking away from Rachel, only to slip and face fall onto the ice.

Rachel simply ignored him and ran at McDougal who was busy fending Al and Emily off.

As he turned to look at Ed, he received a face full of boot and fell back.

"That's how we do it in Central bitch," Rachel snapped crossing her arms and glaring evilly at the criminal.

Emily walked over with a pair of cuffs in her hand and tried to restrain him, only to be pushed off the glacier.

"EMILY!" Al cried transmuting a ledge beneath his falling friend.

The blond girl landed with a loud THUMP, but seemed unharmed, "Owww…thanks Al…"

Rachel swore under her breath and went to attack him again only to be tripped and frozen to the huge chunk of ice, "You bastard!"

"You military dogs are fools. Don't you see the truth?" McDougal snapped transmuting a sword of ice, "The less of you there are the better."

Rachel tried to break free of the ice, but it was too thick.

Just before he thrust the blade through her chest, Rachel closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

To her surprise, Ed came to her rescue, knocking the rouge alchemist off his feet and to the ground 30 feet below.

"Guess that makes us even," Rachel muttered as Ed freed her hands and legs.

"Yeah. But we still got that ass hole on the loose," Ed replied walking over to Al who was helping Emily up, "Let's go Al."  
"Okay Brother," Al said after he got Emily up.

Emily and Rachel watched as Ed and Al chased after McDougal.

"You goin after them?"

Rachel simply shook her head and sighed, "Nah…if Ed dies I don't have to hear him complain anymore."

Emily simply shot her a disapproving glare before sighing, "Guess we'd better get down before Armstrong destroys the circles and we go down the hard way."

"Point taken," Rachel replied pulling a combat knife from her boot, "Last one down does Roy's papers."

Before she could protest, Emily saw Rachel dig her knife into the ice and start sliding down, "Damn show off…"

Emily then jumped down and slid along the glacier the old fashioned way.

As the two reached the bottom, Rachel won by half a second, "Looks like you're gonna be busy."

"Shut up! Why can't we just tie Roy to the desk and make him do it?" Emily suggested trying to get out of the wager.

Rachel paused and smirked, "Sounds good. You bring the duct tape though."

The two girls smirked to one another and shook on it before heading off to find the others.

* * *

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

"So, Lior?"

Ed was sitting across from Roy, the usual irritated look plastered across his face.

"There's a lead on a priest there. They say he works miracles,"Roy explained crossing his hands under his chin, "It may be a philosiphers stone."

Ed's expression changed ever so slightly, but he tried to act casual, "Alright. When do we leave?"

"The four of you leave tonight."

"Four?" Al asked sounding confused.

"Emily and Rachel will accompany you. I need to make sure you don't totally destroy the town," the flame alchemist said with a devious smirk.

"You bastard…"  
"I could send Armstrong."

Ed grumbled something along the lines of fine whatever, then left the room with his brother.

Rachel and Emily rounded the corner just as Ed and Al closed the door to Roy's office.

Rachel smirked and waved to them, "Hey shorty!"

Emily groaned as Ed spun around, an evi look in his eye, "Must you do that?"

"WHO YOU CALLING SO SHORT THEY'D BE ABLE TO RIDE ON THE BACK OF AN ANT!"

Al cried out and held Ed back as he tried to maul Rachel, "Brother! You shouldn't hit women!"

"I WASN'T GONNA HIT HER! I WAS GONNA KICK HER FACE IN!" Ed screeched before finally giving up.

"Just give up Ed. You're never gonna best me," Rachel said patting the blond on the head.

"Can we just go already?" Emily muttered as she tried to put her hair up.

Fine. But don't blame me if Rachel goes missing all of a sudden," Ed snapped storming off.

"Sorry Rachel. Brother! Wait up!" Al called out running after Ed.

"Do you always have to piss him off?"

Rachel chuckled and crossed her arms, "It gives me a sense of purpose."

* * *

YAY FOR MIDGET BASHING!


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't long before Emily and Rachel finished their briefing and met up with Ed and Al at the train station.

"Hey guys!" Emily said smiling big and running over.

Al waved back and started talking to Emily while Rachel walked over beside Ed.

There was an uneasy pause between the two, the only sounds being the chatter of Al and Emily.

Finally, about five minutes before the train arrived, Ed spoke up, "So...How're things with your dad?"

Rachel shrugged in reply, "Eh, the usual."

Once more there was silence.

When the train pulled up, the 4 teens boarded and sat in the very back of the train.

Ed was sitting across from Al and next to Emily.

About fifteen minutes into the trip, Ed pulled out some cards, "Anyone up for poker?"

Rachel chuckled and nodded, "Alright. I'm game."

"Count me in!" Al said with a cheery tone in his voice.

"I'll watch. Never had much luck gambling," Emily said with a sigh, "You guys have fun."

Ed shrugged and started to shuffle, "Your loss."

"Nice try FullMetal. I'LL shuffle," Racghel said taking the cards from him.

"WHAT"S THE BIG IDEA! I'm not gonna cheat!"

"I'm not taking any chances," Rachel muttered shuffling the cards once more.

Ed grumbled something unintelligible as the cards were dealt.

Al picked his cards up and started thinking.

Rachel kept a close eye on Ed as she too thought of her move.

* * *

"Lior! Pulling into Lior now!"

"I...lost...again?"

Ed watched as Al and Rachel split their winnings and talking about how lousy a player he was, "I'm right here ya know..."

"Sorry Ed. Seems the odds weren't in your favor," Rachel said standing up and pulling her bag from the rack.

"See Ed? Gambling'll ruin ya," Emily said taking her bag as well.

Ed glared at them and said nothing as he grabbed his suitcase and stormed off the train.

"Sorry. Brother is a sore loser," Al explained following the girls off the train.

"Eh, no worries. The best of them always are," the Mustang girl said stepping onto the platform.

As the trio looked around, they were surprised to see a man peddling 'The Word of Leto!" books.

"You've got to be kidding me," Emily muttered.

"Wait...where's Ed?" Al asked looking around.

The three looked and groaned before simultaneously screaming, "EDWARD!"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED!


	11. Chapter 11

Al had split up from Emily and Rachel, hoping to find Ed and get their search underway.

"So, where do you think the runt ran off to now?" Rachel asked shifting her suitcase to the other hand.

"Food. Anywhere there is food," Emily replied looking for a nearby restaurant.

After a bit, Emily noticed a flash and sighed, "He's over there!"

The two women ran over and shoved through to find a radio inside of a transmutation circle.

"What is going on Ed?" Emily asked, her eyebrow twitching.

"We fixed a radio we busted," Ed explained shrugging.

Al was standing behind him just watching.

"Emily…let's start looking. Ed's gotta take care of his adoring fans," Rachel suggested taking Emily by the arm and walking towards the church in the center of town.

Emily didn't have a chance to oppose before being pulled away.

* * *

Upon arriving at the church, Emily looked around, "Front door?"

"Too obvious…there might be a service entrance."

"Sewer?"

"Anything but please…Wait…the alley. There should be an entrance there for supply runners," Rachel said looking around the corner.

Emily sighed and followed her friend in.

The hallway was rather dark, but there was no one to be seen.

"Am I the only one thinking this is a really bad idea?" Emily muttered readying her nine mil.

"Would you give it a break? It's not like we're going to die or something!"  
Unfortunately, after she finished talking, Rachel felt something sharp stab into her leg.

Looking, there was a metal arrow that looked to be about a foot long and three inches thick.

"Open mouth….insert foot…" Emily said in between her gasping laughter.

"Shut up!" Rachel snapped angrily yanking the bolt out and throwing it away.

"What are you doing here!"  
The two looked over to see a man standing there, a crossbow in hand and dressed in church-like robes.

"Are you the bastard that shot me?" Rachel asked as her leg healed over.

"Y-You're devil spawn!"

"Well, now you have a new nickname to add to the list," Emily said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Very funny. You just love to point the obvious out don't you?"

"What about him?" Emily asked pointing to the speechless Leto follower.

"Knock him out I guess. I know you won't let me kill 'im," Rachel muttered sounding disappointed.

Emily smirked darkly, an evil aura coming off of her as she ran over and hit the man as hard as she could in the stomach.

The man couldn't breath as he collapsed on the ground, blood dripping from the side of his mouth.

"And I thought I was rough," Rachel said walking past the fallen guard and patting Emily on the shoulder.

In a split second, Emily went from murderous to sweet and innocent once more, "I only hit him with a fourth of my strength? Was it too much?"

"I thought Father said stay outta Lior!"

The sultry voice caused both girls to freeze and pale where they stood.

Emily looked over and tried to keep from shaking, "L-Lust…"

* * *

To Be Continued...


	12. Chapter 12

Rachel groaned and started to walk past Lust, "We don''t have time for you Lust..."

"Then make time Mustang," the homunculus said darkly as she pinned Rachel to the wall with her claws, blood dripping onto the floor.

Emily cried out and resisted the urge to run over and pull the claws from her friends chest, "Stop this! We're here on orders!"

This caused Lust to pause a moment, keeping her 'sibling' pinned to the wall, "Is that so?"

"Yes..." Rachel hissed as a trail of blood trickled down the corner of her mouth, "Now let me down dammit...This is rather uncomfortable."

There was a moment of silence as Lust thought, then a scream erupted from Rachel's throat.

Her shoulder now bled faster and Lust's nails were twisting in the flesh, "Sorry, I'll but it I hear it from Father. I can't exactly trust you, now can I?"

Emily just watched and tried to keep her cool, "I have our papers! Our orders cam from Roy Mustang!"

Rachel was about to say something when she felt Lust's claws retract and she fell to the floor, trembling in pain.

"There right here..." Emily said holding them up, "We're also here to make sure that the sacrifices are unharmed!"

Lust looked at the packet, then at the two women, "Fine...If you step out of line though, I will not hesitate to interfere..."

Once she left, Rachel stood up and looked at Emily sternly, "Human sacrifices? What the hell is that about?"

"I'd explain but right now she may still be listening," the blond girl said quietly walking over and touching the wound on her friends shoulder.

Rachel winced as she felt the wound heal over, then transmuted her clothes back to normal, "Fine, but after this...you're telling me everything!"

Emily nodded and they started heading towards the church once more.

* * *

To be continued...


	13. Chapter 13

It wasn't hard to fid the Elric's once the girls surfaced, they just had to follow the commotion.

Emily sighed and started towards the noise, not noticing Rachel had split up from her.

While Emily ran, Rachel had managed to slip into what looked like Cornello's office and started going through his files.

"Dammit...there has to be a REASON Lust is here," she muttered as she went thugh each drawer in the desk, carefully looking at paper after paper.

"Dammit! I can't believe they found me out!"

Rachel heard the priest coming and dove into a closet, keeping the door open a sliver to watch what he did.

As she looked at the flustered man, the young woman quietly slipped her dagger out of her pocket.

Before she could act though, the man left and slammed the door closed behind him.

"I though he would never leave," she muttered continuing to go through the papers and such.

After some searching, Rachel came across a strange unmarked file.

Upon closer examinatin, Rachel found that the file consisted mainly of notes that kept track of under the table money as well as letters that had been exchanged between Cornello and some woman named Solaris talking about revolution and war.

"This is NOT what I was expecting," she said dropping the file on the desk.

She sat in the chair for a minute, then laughed a bit, "Took ya long enough, short stack."

Ed, who was sitting in the window sill, snapped and lunged at her, "QUIT CALLING ME SHORT!"

Rachel side stepped and jumped to the window, "Take care of your end of the plan. I have to go finish my part."

Before Ed could object, the Mustang girl was gone, "Damn brat, leaving me all the heavy lifting."

Meanwhile, Rachel made it to a secluded phone booth and quickly dialed Central, "Conect me to Roy Mustang. Code 58-630."

The operator confirmed the code and proceeded to conect Rachel to the colonel.

"Mustnag here."

"Dad, it's Rachel."

"Rachel! How's my little girl!"

Rachel grimaced as her dad began the whole loving father act, "Will you shut the hell up already!"

Roy stopped, leaving an uneasy silence between them before speaking up, "So what is it hun?"

"This deal in Lior is bigger than we thought. They're on the brink of war and Cornello is smack dab in the middle. We're going to need some troops up here ASAP. Sadly," Rachel interjected sounding irate, "Elric isn't helping much. If anything he's going to set them off-"

As if to answer her thoughts, Rachel heard a broadcast throughout the town consisting of Ed and the Priest fighting.

"Rachel?" Roy asked sounding concerned.

"Excuse me dad...I've got a pest to kill. I'll let you know when we're coming back," Rachel said, a murderous aura pouring off of her being.

Before Roy could stop her, he heard the other reciever slam down hard enough to cause feedback, "Damn it! I swear she's worse than Riza on a bad day!"

* * *

To be continued...


	14. Chapter 14

"Dammit all Ed," Emily snapped as she listened to the broadcast, standing beside Al, "You weren't supposed to go THAT far."

"That's brother for you. Always taking it two steps too far. Let's hurry. We need to meet back up with him and Rachel," Al explained turning to Rose, "You see Rose? He's no miracle worker..."

"Al! Come on!" Emily called out waving at the suit of armor like a hyper active four year old.

* * *

"I hope the reinforcements show up soon," Rachel muttered as she ran towards the church once more.

The city had grown restless already, citizens grabbing torches and pitchforks in hopes to take things into their own hands.

"We don't have much time. At this rate, war may break out sooner than we though," the dark haired girl muttered picking up her pace.

Upon reaching the church though, Rachel saw Ed standing over Cornello's body looking rather pissed.

The statue of Leto outside of the church had been transmuted to attack the priest that now lay unconscious on the ground.

"Edward..." Rachel groaned in frustration, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It was a fake."

As the elder Elric uttered that one sentence, Rachel noticed the defeat in his eyes.

Emily and Al showed up just in time to hear Ed's heartbreaking news, causing Emily to fall to her knees, "No...We were so close."

"Ed...I'm sorry. I didn't know," she said looking to the priests ring, the red stone now gone from its' setting, "I need to contact Central. I'll meet up with you guys at the station."

More than anything, Rachel wanted to give the Elric's and Emily some personal space after hearing such devastating news.

She knew they all wanted so bad for it to be real, but there was nothing she could do to help them.

Once she reached the train station, Rachel made a bee line for the pay phone by the ticket booth.

"Central HQ how may I direct your call?"

"Connect me to Roy Mustang. Code 58-630."

"Thank you ma'am. One moment please," the operator said.

Rachel listened to the dial tone for a moment, her mind wandering to the ents of the day, before the familiar click brought her out of her daze, "Hey dad."

"Rachel. Is eerything ok?" Roy asked still sounding concerned.

"Everything's fine. Ed took care of it in his own way as usual," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "We'll still need troops though. The cty could go to hell any moment."

"I see. And you're okay?"

"I'm fine dad. Quit worrying," she said pulling her smokes out of her pocket and placing one between her lips, "You're just as bad as mom was."

Roy heard this and paused, the thought of Rachel's mother bringing a faint smile to his lips.

His daze was broken by the sound of Rachel's lighter clicking over the phone, "Still smoking? Those things'll kill you."

"Dad," Rachel muttered taking a deep drag off of her cancer stick, "If this job hasn't killed me yet, nothing will."

"RAAAACHEEEEEL!"

Hearing a familiar cry, Rachel turned her head to see Emily running towards her, "Gotta go dad. We'll be back at HQ soon."

Before he could say anything else, Roy heard the line go dead.

"I swear," he muttered placing the phone back on its stand, "I see more of me in her everyday."

Meanwhile, Rachel had barely dodged Emily's incoming tackle hug and was now using her foot to 'calm' the blond down, "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE QUIET FOR FIVE MINUTES!"

Ed and Al were just laughing at the two before grabbing Emily and the four of them boarding the train together.

* * *

To Be Continued


	15. Chapter 15

The train ride back to Central was rather uneventful, save for the screams of agony from Ed as Rachel beat him hand after hand in poker.

Upon arriving back at HQ, Rachel headed straight for her dads office while Al, Ed, and Emily all left to god knows where.

In Rachel's left hand was the report she had written up on the Lior incident and in her right was a cup of coffee.

Much to her surprise, Roy was in his office ON TIME.

"Knock knock," the dark haired girl said as she walked through the open door, making a bee line for her dads desk.

"Rachel! Glad to see you're ok! How was Lior?" Roy asked resting his chin on his interlaced fingers.

She tossed the filed onto his desk and sat down on the sofa, "Hot...dry...typical desert. Couldn't stand it personally..."

"Hey, if you're going to keep complaining," the colonel said smirking at her, "I could just give you a desk job. How's that sound?"

Rachel did her best to bite her tongue, a look of irritation on her face, "Do you REALLY want me to beat the crap out of you?"

"He colonel! We got news on the Ishvalan," Havoc said as he entered the office.

As soon as he gave the file to Roy, the blond man noticed Rachel sitting on the couch, "Hey Rachel, how's it going."

Feeling her chest get heavy, Rachel immediately pulled a smoke out and lit it, "The usual. Bogus missions, deal with the Three Stooges..."

Havoc couldn't help but chuckle a bit, Ed, Al, Emily, and Rachel always made the office days a bit better with their shenanigans.

"So Rach," Havoc said putting his hands in his pockets, "I was wondering, you free tonight?"

A light blush came to the young Mustang girls cheeks but she forced a smile and nodded, "I usual-"

"Hey Rachel," Roy intterupted, closing the file and looking over, "Care to accompany Hughes and Armstrong to the crime scene?"

"Dad...you know I can't stand even being in the same BUILDING as Armstrong, I'm gonna have to pass. So Ha-"

"It wasn't a request."

Havoc stepped back as the two glared each other down, "I'll just get back to work."

Once he left, Rachel got up and sighed, "You know I'm not a kid anymore, right?"

"I know. I also know you're an excellent fighter so you can help protect Hughes since he's not an alchemist," Roy lied smirking to himself as she started to leave.

"Uh-huh...Next time," Rachel snapped glaring death at him from the corner of her eye, "At least make it a believable lie."

Once she left the building, Rachel noticed she had just let her smoke burn, she had forgotten to take a drag of it.

"Dammit all..." she muttered pulling another on out and trying to light it.

After a few moments of fighting with her lighter, a hand appeared in front of her face with a lit zippo, "Oh, thanks."

"No problem," Havoc said smiling as she lit her smoke.

Once again, Rachel found it hard to keep her cool but did her best, "Dorry about my dad. He refuses to accept that I'm an adult now..."

"Understandable. Since we're alone though," Havoc asked lighting his own smoke and sitting on a bench beside the stairs, "Want to talk for a minute?"

Rachel took a drag of her smoke, doing her best not to panic as he beckoned her over, "Sure. What was it you wanted to ask me back there?"

"Well," Havoc said after she sat down, "I have a date tonight and I don't know where to take her or what to get her."

That sentence hit Rachel harder than Emily's automail arm when she first wakes up.

"If you were going on a date, what would you want?" Havoc asked, completely oblivious to the devastation painted on Rachel's face.

"Well..." she finally managed, taking another drag of her smoke, "A nice quiet dinner. Small restaurant. And don't bring anything fancy. Just a small bouquet of flowers. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions."

"Thanks Rach," Havoc said patting her on the back, "You're a big help."

Once he left, Rachel pretty much collapsed in on herself, "Why does this happen to me!?"

* * *

To Be Continued


End file.
